The hot flashes that accompany menopause are often an uncomfortable and irritating part of the process. Recently, researchers discovered that acupuncture can go a long way in easing the intensity of hot flashes, as well as their rate of occurrence.
Menopausal women often feel overcome by waves of sudden heat, that is sometimes visible in red blotches on the body, or produces heavy perspiration or shivers.
Women going through menopause often opt to employ hormone therapy to manage hot flashes. In that case, medication containing estrogen or progesterone is prescribed. In recent years, a multitude of health risks have been linked to that particular treatment, including stroke, cancer, and heart problems. This makes the recent acupuncture finding all the more promising.
This study, recently published in the journal Menopause, focused on how acupuncture might affect women navigating menopause naturally. The researchers were primarily interested in how frequent and severe hot flashes were before, and after, undergoing the age-old treatment.
Acupuncture is essentially about using thin, metallic needles to penetrate the skin, and stimulate anatomical points on the body to heal. Chronic pain sufferers, people managing inflammations, and even people attempting to lose weight employ acupuncture.
According to the evidence, acupuncture was effective for menopausal women too. There were 869 woman included in the study who submitted to various types of the treatment including acupressure, laser acupuncture, and traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture.
The research team reported a significant reduction in hot flash symptoms and severity, lasting as long as 3 months. Interestingly, the benefits also did not appear to be restricted by number or length of sessions.
Dr. Margery Gass, executive director of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS), commented, “More than anything, this review indicates that there is still much to be learned relative to the causes and treatments of menopausal hot flashes. The review suggests that acupuncture may be an effective alternative for reducing hot flashes, especially for those women seeking non-pharmacologic therapies.”
Read the full article here: Acupuncture may reduce severity and frequency of menopausal hot flashes – Medical News Today
